As we are about a quarter of the way done with this NBA season, that means that it is time for teams to start looking at that March 25th trade deadline and make some tough decisions. Teams must decide if they try to trade assets and players for the last piece to become contenders, or if it is time to blow up the team and set up a rebuild for the future. We have most likely seen the “biggest” trade of the season already in terms of names when James Harden was traded to the Brooklyn Nets. However, there will be trades conducted at the deadline that could very well shift the NBA landscape and make some competitive teams true contenders, and others will enter the rebuilding phase. Here are some trades that fans could see come the deadline.
Potential Blockbuster in the Capital City
Bradley Beal becomes a free agent in 2022, and based on the slow start to the Wizards season and Russell Westbrook’s decline in play this season, it seems unlikely that he would resign in Washington. If the front office is wise enough to realize this, they will soon realize that they should try to get as many assets in return for the 27-year-old star who seems to just be entering his prime.
The 76ers are the popular team when discussing a Bradley Beal trade. That trade would look like Ben Simmons, Tyrese Maxey, Matisse Thybulle, and picks for Beal. However, I think that a dark horse to land the NBA’s leading scorer this year is the Denver Nuggets. The Nuggets have one of the most intriguing young players in the league right now with Michael Porter Jr. I think we could realistically see a package that included MPJ, Garry Harris and future 1st round picks and pick swaps.
This would work well for both teams as the Nuggets were in the Western Conference Finals last year, and were even able to steal a game from the eventual champion Lakers. Beal would team up perfectly with Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray to form their own big three, and the Nuggets would finally get a 3rd guy who can get their own shot, but also plays brilliantly off the ball and will always be looking for passes from Jokic. The Wizards get the potential of MPJ becoming a star and Garry Harris to try to repair the Wizards horrendous defense as well as picks for the future.
The Magic blow it up
The Orlando Magic are the NBA team that may be in the weirdest situation currently. They seem to be competing for an 8-seed in the east every year, but never make any noise in the playoffs. They have enticing young players such as Jonathan Isaac, Cole Anthony, and Markelle Fultz and also solid veterans that raise the floor of this team like Evan Fournier and Nikola Vucevic. But this season the injury bug got to Orlando and Jonathan Isaac and Markelle Fultz will miss the remainder of the season so the Magic once again seem to be in limbo. They should evaluate their roster and realize that their best course of action is to trade away their veterans and continue to build around their young core, and be ready for a brighter 2021-2022 season.
I think we could see Aaron Gordon be shopped to the Dallas Mavericks, as they are looking for frontcourt depth, and in exchange, they would receive James Johnson(to match the money), the 31st pick in this year’s draft, Tyrell Terry, and a future 1st round pick.
This trade would hopefully put the Mavericks back into title contention and allow the Magic to receive another young player in Terry and also a first-round pick to either use or trade for another piece in the future.
If the Magic do opt to blow it up like I think they will, Nikola Vucevic is next on the chopping block, as he is 30 years old and getting paid $26 million this season. A team that I could see pulling the trigger on a deal for the 1-time all-star. The Spurs seem to be reluctant to commit to building around young stars, and would rather contend for the 7-8 seed in Gregg Popovich’s last seasons as coach. Lamarcus Aldridge is aging, so swapping the two big men and the Spurs throwing in one of their young pieces such as Lonnie Walker or Derrick White as well as a first-round pick could be intriguing for both sides. The Spurs would get this season and the next two years with Vucevic, who seems to be in his prime, and the Magic would get LaMarcus Aldridge to help build the culture in Orlando in the final years of his career, as well as another young piece to build around and more draft picks to have in the back pocket.
Milwaukee tries to get back to an elite defensive level
Last year, what made the Bucks the team with the best record in the league was their historically great defense season where they led the NBA in defensive rating. They are no slouches on defense this year, but they have fallen down to tenth in the NBA in defensive rating after losing Marvin Williams to retirement, and Robin Lopez to the Wizards.
Hope is not lost as the Bucks have the tradable contract of DJ Wilson, and the route to getting their defense back to its historic levels involves a deal with the Sacramento Kings that would land the Bucks Richaun Holmes, who would help anchor the defense with his 1.7 blocks per game. He is also an active offensive player and along with Bobby Portis playing hard, could add an impact play energy to the Bucks that typically only Giannis can bring to the court with his emotional dunks.
The Bucks have somehow managed to hang onto their 2023 first-round pick after trading for Jrue Holiday, but that along with DJ Wilson and rookie three-point specialist Sam Merrill would be packaged to the Kings in return for the 27-year-old big man. The Kings get two young pieces that have shown flashes as well as more draft capital that can be used or turned into other pieces.
Charlotte makes a playoff push
At this point in the season, the Hornets are one of those teams that are on the verge of being in the play-in-tournament for the 8 seed, and the roster that they have now is solid, but they could use another proven player to go with Gordon Hayward. That player could potentially be Andre Drummond of the Clevland Cavaliers. The Cavs currently have a comical amount of big men on their roster and will be looking to unload at least one of their SEVEN bigs. A trade could include Cody Zeller and Miles Bridges for the 2-time all-star.
This would give the Cavaliers another center but also a budding young wing in Miles Bridges who would play well off of the stellar guard play of Darius Garland and Collin Sexton. The Hornets would get one of the best rebounders in the league to team up with Hayward, Terry Rozier, and Lamelo Ball. Drummond has also been the anchor of one of the league’s best defenses this year in Clevland and having Drummond inside to take some defensive pressure off of Lamelo could be beneficial to the promising guard from Chino Hills.
